Expats out and locals in is the new GCC trend

As the focus on local jobs for local people in the Gulf States ratchets up, are expat professionals feeling the strain?

Saudization, Kuwaitization and the rest of the ‘zations’ mean one thing – fewer and fewer jobs for expats. Although the experienced, highly qualified expat professional sector seems fairly safe for now, it seems globalisation is no longer on the cards for the Gulf States. The latest hit on expat job security came last Sunday, with Oman issuing a new decree suspending the issuance of expat visas in several categories for six months. It’s now anyone’s guess whether the six months will turn into a longer time or an all-time ban.

Jobs in IT, finance, sales and marketing, admin and human resources, healthcare, engineering and media are now off the cards unless you’re an Emirati. Last week, Saudi Arabia came up with its own list of jobs to be restricted to citizens only, starting next September. Admittedly, they weren’t jobs likely to attract expat professionals as the list concentrates on retailing and sales, but who knows what’s next? Unemployment rates for citizens in Oman and Saudi are 12 per cent and 12.8 per cent respectively, but the Saudi list is more likely to result in jobs for the locals than is that of Oman.

Oddly enough, given that Kuwaiti lawmakers seem to be the toughest bunch of all the Gulf States as regards foreign talent, just one single list has been forthcoming to date.The emirate’s citizen unemployment rate is at a respectable 2.2 per cent, perhaps explaining why expats can stay where they are for now, but a replacement policy is to be implemented in certain sectors within the Ministry of the Interior. Even so, a bill to impose taxes on expat remittances was defeated last Monday as it was seen as unconstitutional.

It seems the general policy across the GCC is now concentrated on reducing public sector wage bills as well as reducing local unemployment by encouraging employers to absorb more locals into their workplaces. Budgets are still being strained by lower than normal oil prices and the new rules are expected to result in a hike in commodity prices, but it’s believed the increased number of local consumers will take up the slack. Calculations of how much the soon-to-be jobless expat community contributes to the national economy haven’t as yet been released.